STATISTICAL RELEASE
P0141
Consumer Price Index
March 2017
Embargoed until:
19 April 2017
10:00
ENQUIRIES:
Marietjie Bennett /
Evashnie Govender
(012) 310 8077 / 336 0176
FORTHCOMING ISSUE:
April 2017
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EXPECTED RELEASE DATE
24 May 2017
STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA
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CONTENTS
KEY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................................................. 3
DETAILED RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................................ 4
Table A - Consumer Price Index: Main indices ................................................................................................................... 4
Table B - CPI headline ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Table C - Contributions of the different groups to the annual percentage change in the CPI headline ............................... 6
Table D - Contributions of the different groups to the monthly percentage change in the CPI headline ............................. 6
Table E - Consumer price indices for all urban areas ......................................................................................................... 7
Table F - Survey schedule for non-monthly surveys ........................................................................................................... 9
GLOSSARY...................................................................................................................................................................... 10
GENERAL INFORMATION .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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KEY FINDINGS
Headline consumer price index (CPI for all urban areas)
Annual consumer price inflation was 6,1% in March 2017, down from 6,3% in February 2017. The consumer price index
increased by 0,6% month-on-month in March 2017.
Table C (page 6) shows contributions to headline annual consumer price inflation.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased from 1,7 percentage points in February to 1,5 percentage points
in March. The index increased by 8,7% year-on-year.

Transport increased from 1,0 percentage point in February to 1,1 percentage points in March. The index increased
by 7,7% year-on-year.

Education increased from 0,1 of a percentage point in February to 0,2 of a percentage point in March. The index
increased by 7,0% year-on-year.

Miscellaneous goods and services increased from 1,1 percentage points in February to 1,2 percentage points
in March. The index increased by 7,5% year-on-year.
Table D (page 6) shows contributions to monthly consumer price inflation.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed 0,1 of a percentage point in March. The index increased by 0,5%
month-on-month.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco contributed 0,1 of a percentage point in March. The index increased by 1,7%
month-on-month.

Housing and utilities contributed 0,2 of a percentage point in March. The index increased by 0,9% month-onmonth.

Education contributed 0,2 of a percentage point in March. The index increased by 7,0% month-on-month.
In March the CPI for goods increased by 7,0% year-on-year (down from 7,1% in February), and the CPI for services
increased by 5,4% year-on-year (down from 5,6% in February).
Provincial annual inflation rates ranged from 4,9% in Northern Cape to 7,0% in Western Cape (see Table A).
Note: Not all items in the CPI are surveyed every month. Table F (page 9) shows the survey schedule for items that are
not surveyed monthly. No additional surveys are scheduled for April 2017.
PJ Lehohla
Statistician-General
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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DETAILED RESULTS
Table A - Consumer Price Index: Main indices
Unless otherwise stated the table refers to all urban areas.
Weight
CPI excluding food and NAB, fuel and energy
Trimmed mean
Analytical
series
Mar 2017
Mar 2017
vs.
Feb 2017
Mar 2017
vs.
Mar 2016
100,00
96,4
101,7
102,3
0,6
6,1
74,43
97,3
101,4
102,1
0,7
4,9
..
95,9
100,9
101,2
0,3
5,5
48,70
95,2
101,5
101,9
0,4
7,0
CPI for durable goods
7,81
96,7
100,7
100,6
-0,1
4,0
CPI for semi-durable goods
5,68
96,2
100,2
100,5
0,3
4,5
CPI for non-durable goods
35,21
94,8
101,9
102,5
0,6
8,1
CPI for services
51,30
97,4
101,9
102,7
0,8
5,4
Total
16,17
94,6
101,5
102,5
1,0
8,4
Regulated
11,76
93,1
102,1
101,8
-0,3
9,3
4,41
98,2
100,0
104,3
4,3
6,2
CPI excluding administered
prices
83,83
96,8
101,7
102,3
0,6
5,7
CPI for administered prices
excluding fuel and paraffin
11,54
95,7
100,0
101,5
1,5
6,1
CPI excluding food and NAB
82,76
96,7
101,6
102,2
0,6
5,7
CPI excluding fuel
95,42
96,6
101,5
102,2
0,7
5,8
CPI excluding food and NAB
and fuel
78,18
97,0
101,4
102,0
0,6
5,2
CPI excluding housing
75,38
96,6
102,2
102,8
0,6
6,4
CPI excluding fuel and energy
91,67
96,8
101,6
102,3
0,7
5,7
CPI excluding energy
96,25
96,5
101,8
102,4
0,6
6,1
CPI excluding owners'
equivalent rent
86,68
96,3
102,0
102,5
0,5
6,4
..
96,1
101,8
102,3
0,5
6,5
100,00
96,3
101,7
102,2
0,5
6,1
12,23
95,9
101,3
101,7
0,4
6,0
Western Cape
17,25
95,8
101,9
102,5
0,6
7,0
Eastern Cape
8,04
95,8
101,5
102,1
0,6
6,6
Northern Cape
1,93
96,9
101,4
101,6
0,2
4,9
Free State
5,93
96,3
101,5
102,0
0,5
5,9
12,70
96,0
101,6
102,0
0,4
6,3
5,31
96,3
101,7
102,0
0,3
5,9
36,25
96,6
101,8
102,4
0,6
6,0
Mpumalanga
6,89
96,8
101,4
101,7
0,3
5,1
Limpopo
5,70
96,1
101,3
102,0
0,7
6,1
1
0,50
96,0
101,1
101,2
0,1
5,4
2
1,13
96,0
101,3
101,5
0,2
5,7
3
1,89
96,0
101,2
101,6
0,4
5,8
4
2,81
96,0
101,0
101,5
0,5
5,7
5
3,93
96,1
101,0
101,5
0,5
5,6
6
5,61
96,1
100,9
101,5
0,6
5,6
7
7,91
96,2
101,0
101,7
0,7
5,7
8
11,30
96,2
101,3
102,0
0,7
6,0
9
16,35
96,5
101,7
102,4
0,7
6,1
10
48,57
96,5
102,1
102,6
0,5
6,3
CPI for all goods
CPI for administered prices
Not regulated
CPI for pensioners
Geographic
indices
CPI for total country
CPI for rural areas
CPI per province
KwaZulu-Natal
North West
Gauteng
Deciles
Percentage change
Feb 2017
Group
All items (CPI Headline)
Index (Dec 2016=100)
Mar 2016
CPI per expenditure decile
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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Table B - CPI headline
Table B1 - CPI headline index numbers (Dec 2016=100)
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Average1
Dec
2013
80,4
81,2
82,2
82,5
82,3
82,5
83,4
83,6
84,0
84,2
84,3
84,5
82,9
2014
85,1
86,0
87,2
87,6
87,7
88,0
88,7
89,0
89,0
89,2
89,2
89,0
88,0
2015
88,9
89,4
90,7
91,5
91,7
92,1
93,1
93,1
93,1
93,3
93,4
93,7
92,0
2016
94,4
95,7
96,4
97,2
97,4
97,9
98,7
98,6
98,8
99,3
99,6
100,0
97,8
2017
100,6
101,7
102,3
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
1
Annual average.
Table B2 - CPI headline year-on-year rates
Year
1
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Average1
Dec
2013
5,4
5,9
5,9
5,9
5,6
5,5
6,3
6,4
6,0
5,5
5,3
5,4
5,7
2014
5,8
5,9
6,0
6,1
6,6
6,6
6,3
6,4
5,9
5,9
5,8
5,3
6,1
2015
4,4
3,9
4,0
4,5
4,6
4,7
5,0
4,6
4,6
4,7
4,8
5,2
4,6
2016
6,2
7,0
6,3
6,2
6,1
6,3
6,0
5,9
6,1
6,4
6,6
6,8
6,4
2017
6,6
6,3
6,1
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Annual average.
Figure 1 - CPI headline index numbers and year-on-year rates
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
..
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Table C - Contributions of the different groups to the annual percentage change in the CPI headline
Group
Contribution
Feb 2017
Mar 2017
Food and non-alcoholic beverages
1,7
1,5
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco
0,2
0,2
Clothing and footwear
0,2
0,2
Housing and utilities
1,4
1,4
Household contents and services
0,1
0,1
Health
0,1
0,1
Transport
1,0
1,1
Recreation and culture
0,2
0,2
Education
0,1
0,2
Restaurants and hotels
0,2
0,2
Miscellaneous goods and services
1,1
1,2
Residual
0,0
-0,3
All Items
6,3
6,1
Table D - Contributions of the different groups to the monthly percentage change in the CPI headline
Group
Contribution
Feb 2017
Mar 2017
Food and non-alcoholic beverages
0,1
0,1
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco
0,0
0,1
Housing and utilities
0,0
0,2
Health
0,1
0,0
Transport
0,1
0,0
Education
0,0
0,2
Miscellaneous goods and services
0,7
0,0
Residual
0,1
0,0
All Items
1,1
0,6
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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Table E - Consumer price indices for all urban areas
Weight
Mar 2017
Mar 2017
vs.
Feb 2017
Mar 2017
vs.
Mar 2016
100,00
96,4
101,7
102,3
0,6
6,1
17,24
94,6
102,3
102,8
0,5
8,7
15,48
94,6
102,3
102,8
0,5
8,7
Processed
8,67
93,0
101,2
101,8
0,6
9,5
Unprocessed
6,81
96,2
103,1
103,6
0,5
7,7
Bread and cereals
3,21
92,3
100,7
100,1
-0,6
8,5
Meat
5,46
96,3
104,4
105,8
1,3
9,9
Fish
0,40
92,7
101,7
102,4
0,7
10,5
Milk, eggs and
cheese
2,57
92,8
101,0
101,3
0,3
9,2
Oils and fats
0,45
98,0
100,8
99,9
-0,9
1,9
Fruit
0,34
96,3
99,2
100,7
1,5
4,6
Vegetables
1,30
102,1
102,2
102,1
-0,1
0,0
Sugar, sweets
and desserts
0,56
88,1
100,8
103,6
2,8
17,6
Other food
1,19
91,0
101,5
101,6
0,1
11,6
1,76
93,6
102,4
102,7
0,3
9,7
Hot beverages
0,65
91,5
103,5
103,7
0,2
13,3
Cold beverages
1,11
94,5
101,8
102,2
0,4
8,1
5,82
98,3
99,7
101,4
1,7
3,2
3,89
98,1
99,7
101,0
1,3
3,0
Spirits
0,86
96,3
101,0
101,8
0,8
5,7
Wine
1,05
97,2
100,2
103,5
3,3
6,5
Beer
1,98
99,0
98,8
99,4
0,6
0,4
1,93
98,7
99,9
102,1
2,2
3,4
3,83
96,4
100,5
100,7
0,2
4,5
Clothing
2,71
96,2
100,5
100,8
0,3
4,8
Footwear
1,12
97,0
100,4
100,5
0,1
3,6
24,62
95,5
100,0
100,9
0,9
5,7
3,52
96,6
100,0
101,2
1,2
4,8
Owners' equivalent rent
13,32
96,5
100,0
101,1
1,1
4,8
Maintenance and repair
0,82
99,2
101,0
101,1
0,1
1,9
Water and other services
3,16
92,5
100,0
100,6
0,6
8,8
Electricity and other fuels
3,80
93,1
100,0
100,0
0,0
7,4
4,35
97,5
100,0
100,6
0,6
3,2
Furnishings, floor coverings
and textiles
0,81
99,9
99,5
99,6
0,1
-0,3
Appliances, tableware and
equipment
0,73
97,7
99,6
99,6
0,0
1,9
Supplies and services
2,81
96,8
100,2
101,1
0,9
4,4
2,45
96,1
100,0
100,9
0,9
5,0
1,40
98,6
103,9
104,7
0,8
6,2
Medical products
0,53
97,5
100,1
102,2
2,1
4,8
Medical services
0,87
99,8
106,4
106,4
0,0
6,6
All items (CPI
Headline)
Food
Non-alcoholic beverages
Alcoholic
beverages
and tobacco
Alcoholic beverages
Tobacco
Clothing and
footwear
Housing and
utilities
Household
contents and
services
Percentage change
Feb 2017
Group
Food and
non-alcoholic
beverages
Index (Dec 2016=100)
Mar 2016
Actual rentals for housing
Domestic
workers' wages
Health
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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Table E - Consumer price indices for all urban areas (concluded)
Weight
Group
Transport
Mar 2017
vs.
Feb 2017
Mar 2017
vs.
Mar 2016
7,7
94,8
102,4
102,1
-0,3
6,12
95,6
101,1
101,2
0,1
5,9
Private transport operation
5,86
92,4
104,5
104,2
-0,3
12,8
Fuel
4,58
91,2
105,3
104,9
-0,4
15,0
Other running
costs
1,28
96,4
101,3
101,6
0,3
5,4
2,30
98,4
100,5
99,3
-1,2
0,9
2,63
100,1
99,9
99,2
-0,7
-0,9
Postal services and
telecommunication services
2,43
99,9
100,0
99,4
-0,6
-0,5
Telecommunication equipment
0,20
106,3
98,6
96,7
-1,9
-9,0
5,16
96,7
100,2
100,3
0,1
3,7
Recreational equipment
1,25
96,5
100,5
99,9
-0,6
3,5
Recreational and cultural
services
3,10
99,1
100,2
100,2
0,0
1,1
Books, newspapers and
stationery
0,64
94,7
99,3
101,7
2,4
7,4
Package holidays
0,17
85,3
101,5
101,1
-0,4
18,5
Education
Miscellaneous
goods and
services
Mar 2017
14,28
Communication
Restaurants
and hotels
Percentage change
Feb 2017
Purchase of vehicles
Public transport
Recreation and
culture
Index (Dec 2016=100)
Mar 2016
2,53
100,0
100,0
107,0
7,0
7,0
Primary and secondary
1,54
100,0
100,0
107,6
7,6
7,6
Tertiary
0,99
100,0
100,0
106,2
6,2
6,2
3,09
95,3
100,9
101,1
0,2
6,1
Restaurants
1,98
95,0
100,9
101,0
0,1
6,3
Hotels
1,11
96,3
101,0
101,2
0,2
5,1
15,05
98,6
105,8
106,0
0,2
7,5
2,12
96,6
101,5
103,3
1,8
6,9
10,06
99,6
107,6
107,5
-0,1
7,9
Financial services
1,53
98,6
104,1
104,4
0,3
5,9
Other goods and services
1,34
94,4
100,5
100,5
0,0
6,5
Personal care
Insurance
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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Table F - Survey schedule for non-monthly surveys
Quarterly
Gymnasium fees (Recreation and culture)
January, April, July, October
Funeral expenses, funeral policies, gravestone maintenance
(Miscellaneous)
February, May, August, November
Private-sector hospitals (Health)
February, August
Rugby tickets (Recreation and culture)
Actual rentals for housing, owners’ equivalent rent (Housing and
utilities)
Sectional title levies (Housing and utilities)
March, June, September, December
Domestic workers’ wages (Household contents and services)
Taxi fares, train fares (Transport)
Motor vehicle insurance (Miscellaneous)
Biannual
January, July
Building insurance, household content insurance (Miscellaneous)
February, April
Medical aid (Miscellaneous)
April, October
Television licences (Recreation and culture)
May, November
Electricians, plumbers (Housing and utilities)
July, August
Municipal charges for water, property rates and electricity (Housing
and utilities)
Annual
January
February
Post box rental (Communication)
Lotto tickets (Recreation and culture)
Private-sector doctors and dentists (Health)
Rugby tickets (Recreation and culture)
School and university tuition fees (Education)
March
Toll fees (Transport)
University boarding fees (Restaurants and hotels)
Crèche fees (Miscellaneous)
October
Cricket tickets (Recreation and culture)
Other
January, March, April, June, July,
September, October, December
Local bus fares (Transport)
Additional surveys are conducted for these items when Stats SA is aware of significant price changes outside regular
survey months.
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
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GLOSSARY
A complete set of definitions is available in the methods and sources document on the Stats SA website
http://www.statssa.gov.za
Annual inflation rate
The annual inflation rate is the change in the index of the relevant month of the
current year compared with the index of the same month in the previous year
expressed as a percentage.
Annual percentage change
The annual percentage change is the change in the index of the relevant month
of the current year compared with the index of the same month in the previous
year expressed as a percentage.
Average annual inflation rate
The average annual inflation rate is the change in the average index of one year
compared with the average index of the previous year expressed as a percentage.
Average annual percentage
change
The average annual percentage change is the change in the average index of one
year compared with the average index of the previous year expressed as a
percentage.
CPI for administered prices
An administered price is defined as the price of a product which is set consciously
by an individual producer or group of producers and/or any price which can be
determined or influenced by government, either directly or through a government
agency/institution without reference to market forces. Products and services
included are assessment rates, water, electricity, paraffin, petrol, diesel, public
transport – trains, motor licences, motor registration, telephone fees, cell calls,
television licence, school fees, university/technicons/colleges and university
boarding fees.
CPI for regulated prices
Regulated prices are those administered prices that are monitored and controlled
by government policy. To this end, price regulation does not necessarily imply the
presence of an economic regulator, but the restriction on the extent to which
prices in September vary, depending on government’s policy objective. Products
and services included are water, electricity, paraffin, petrol, diesel, telephone fees
and cell calls.
CPI per expenditure decile
Decile 1 - up to R17 721;
Decile 2 - R 17 722 up to R 29 475;
Decile 3 - R 29 476 up to R 42 582;
Decile 4 - R 42 583 up to R 56 909;
Decile 5 - R 56 910 up to R 73 813;
Decile 6 - R 73 814 up to R 94 884;
Decile 7 - R 94 885 up to R 124 227;
Decile 8 - R 124 228 up to R 173 022;
Decile 9 - R 173 023 up to R 269 902; and
Decile 10 - R 269 903 and more.
Inflation rate
The inflation rate is the change in the CPI for all items of the relevant month of the
current year compared with the CPI for all items of the same month in the previous
year expressed as a percentage.
Monthly percentage change
The monthly percentage change is the change in the index of the relevant month
compared with the index of the previous month expressed as a percentage.
Rural CPI
Consumer Price Index – March 2017
The rural CPI is compiled using data from rural and urban areas in accordance
with the purchasing patterns of rural residents.
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GENERAL INFORMATION
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they specify that the relevant application and analysis (where applicable) result from their own processing of the data.
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An advance release calendar is disseminated on www.statssa.gov.za
Forthcoming issues
Issue
Expected release date
April 2017
24 May 2017
May 2017
21 June 2017
June 2017
19 July 2017
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A large range of data are available via on-line services, diskette and computer printouts. For more details about our
electronic data services, contact (012) 310 8600.
You can visit us on the internet at: www.statssa.gov.za
Enquiries
Technical enquiries
Marietjie Bennett, Evashnie Govender
(012) 310 8077 / 336 0176
Telephone number
(012) 310 8077 / 336 0176 (survey area)
(012) 310 8600 / 8390 / 8351 / 4892 / 8496 / 8095 (user)
(012) 310 8490 (library)
Email
[email protected] (technical enquiries)
[email protected] (user information services)
[email protected] (orders)
Private Bag X44, Pretoria, 0001
Postal address
Produced by Stats SA
Consumer Price Index – March 2017